Painting with melted beeswax and pigment. This technique dates back to the 1st century BC Greeks, who used wax to caulk ship hulls and pigmenting the wax led to decorating war ships. Greek painters in Egypt created the famous "Fayum" funeral portraits on tombs in the 1st-3rd centuries AD. Encaustics is growing in popularity as the tools have made for safer and more portable practices.

I paint with encaustic medium (beeswax and damar resin) plus pigments in liquid form brushed onto wood panel. I also use manufactured encaustic paints made with beeswax, pigment and damar resin. Heat is applied with a blow torch, heat gun or iron to cure the wax and fuse it to the surface or previous layer of wax. Some pieces have 10 layers of wax, others have 50. The wax can be layered, scraped, carved into, combined with photos, papers, found objects or nature,T he process requires safety measures such as good ventilation and fire safe environment.

These paintings are archival, but as with any fine art, care should be given to them. There should be no fear of them melting in normal household conditions. The wax will not melt unless exposed to temperatures over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. They are also sensitive to freezing cold temperatures.